Venture Global received permission to introduce natural gas into the final block of its Plaquemines LNG export facility in Louisiana on Tuesday, according to a filing from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The FERC approval means Venture Global could be producing liquefied natural gas from its entire Plaquemines export facility by the end of the week, more than a year before the company is expected to provide its first set of long-term customers with their contracted amounts of gas.
Venture Global, the second largest LNG exporter in the U.S., has aimed to quickly construct and ramp up production at its plants to make money from spot market sales at higher prices during the commissioning phase. The practice has drawn attention from some customers after an arbitration loss earlier this month related to delayed commercial sales at a different facility.
Federal regulators last week approved a separate request from Venture Global to extend the commissioning phase at Plaquemines until December 31, 2027. The company has said that the planned start of commercial, long-term sales would not be affected.
Completion of the Plaquemines export facility will bring it to its full capacity of 27.2 million metric tons per annum. In September, Plaquemines, the second largest plant in the country, was already responsible for more than 17% of total U.S. exports, according to data from financial firm LSEG.
(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston: Editing by Nathan Crooks and Leslie Adler)